8/10 MLW TV Report: Teddy Hart vs. John Hennigan, Sami Callihan vs. Kotto Brazil, Friedman vs. Joey Janela

MLW TV REPORT
AUGUST 10, 2018
TAPED IN ORLANDO, FLA.
AIRED ON BE-IN SPORTS NETWORK
REPORT BY KRIS KARCHER, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT

Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Rich Bocchini

No MLW intro this week the show started immediately with the entrance of Leon Scott

(1) Leon Scott (w/Sami Callihan & Sawyer Fulton) vs. Barrington Hughes

They showed a backstage video of Shane Strickland, Barrington Hughes, and Kotto Brazil airing their grievances with Sami Callihan and his Death Machines. Strickland challenged them to a War Games match. Scott gave Hughes the thumbs up but Hughes smacked the thumbs-up away. Hughes hit a big elbow job but Sawyer came into break up to pin. The ref called for the bell. Hughes fought back, but Callihan entered the ring and hit him with a baseball bat. The three men beat down Hughes until Kotto Brazil ran out and sent them off with the baseball bat. Brazil grabbed the mic and said he’s tired of Sami Callihan and his boys always jumping everyone from behind. Brazil asked for a referee. He challenged Callihan to a match one-on-one and said Kotto can and Kotto will whoop up your ass. Then Brazil dove outside of the ring onto all three men. Brazil tossed Callahan back into the rain and went for a top rope hurricanrana but Callihan reversed into a powerbomb. Callihan threatened the ref and told him to ring the bell the bell rang.

WINNER: Barrington Hughes (By DQ)

(2) Kotto Brazil vs. Sami Callihan

Callihan took over on offense after the bell. Callihan tossed Brazil outside of the ring and stood on his throat. Back inside the ring Callihan continued his assault stomping away on Brazil. During the match they ran two previews for matches later on the show. MJF vs. Joey Janela in a falls count anywhere match for the Middleweight Championship and John Hennigan vs. Teddy Hart for the number one contendership. Callihan wore down Brazil with a headlock. When Brazil tried to power out Callihan stomped Brazil and spit on him. Callihan hit a crossroads type maneuver. Callihan wanted the 10 count but attacked Brazil at the count of 5. Callihan then re applied the headlock. When Callihan went for a suplex Brazil countered and hit a satellite DDT after hitting the ropes. Callihan hit a monster lariat for a two count. Callihan set up three chairs on top of each other outside the ring. Callahan picked up Brazil and tried to throw him out for the ring but Brazil slipped off. Brazil hit a Canadian destroyer for a two count. Brazil set Callihan up on the top rope and went for a top rope hurricanrana but Callihan caught him and power bombed him from the top rope. Callihan then picked up Brazil and hit the standing Shoulder Breaker for the win.

WINNER: Sami Callihan

(Karcher’s Analysis: Pretty good match. Some real good intensity from these two. I like this feud. I’d like to see these two in a longer singles match with less rest hold stalling some time in the future. This is a fun way to start the build up for the War Games match coming up next month. That should be a fun match. I’m not sure I like some of the production changes we got here with no opening to start he show and then the in match ads for the shows later in the night. It seemed cheap to me to just start with the match right away no fan fare and the in match ads seemed cheap and distracting as well. Hopefully they are just playing around with some formatting things and can find a better balance.)

– A video from earlier this week aired with Brain Pillman Jr., Davey Boy Smith Jr., Teddy Hart, and some woman I don’t know, outside sitting together. Some unidentified man asked them what they thought about the “expose” that just hit the internet. Hart took offense to the man interrupting him and his family. In so many words he said he would like to piss on the man. He said he doesn’t follow the script. Davey Boy Smith Jr. said he doesn’t like pencil neck reporters and he jumped up and got in the camera man’s face tell him to get out of there.

– Kaci Lennox was backstage with Konnan. She asked him what he was doing with Fenix and Pentagon Jr. Konnan said he was looking out for them and making sure no unscrupulous promoter was taking advantage of them. Low Ki walked up and said that Konnan was gaming everyone. He told Konnan in might be in his best interest to mind his own business. They then spoke in spanish to each other which unfortunately I can’t translate for you.

– Joey Janela was seen with a ref backstage. He knocked on a door and MJF answered. Schiavone said that the match has officially begun.

(3) Maxwell Jacob Friedman (c) vs. Joey Janela (w/Aria Blake) – Falls Count Anywhere match for the Middleweight Championship

The two brawled down the steps and then into the bar area. MJF used his scarf to choke Janela. The two brawled through the crowd. MJF stood on a chair and stomped Janela’s hand. Janela fought back and smashed MJF’s hand on a chair. There was a lot of no descriptor brawling back and forth. MJF grabbed Aria Blake and used her a shield. He then threw her into Janela and poked Janela eyes off the distraction. Back in the ring MJF went for a cover and got a two count. MJF hit a power bouncing Janela off the middle rope for a two. MJF hit a backbreaker across his knee. A War Games add ran along the bottom of the screen and a clearly recorded Schiavone plugged the match. (c) Back from break Jenela was on the apron and MJF was on the ground outside holding a chair. Janela jumped off and double stomped MJF. Janela went for the cover and got a two. Jenela took MJF to the top of the ramp. MJF begged for mercy. Jenela said it’s time to pass away and MJF hit Janela with a low blow. MJF went for a power bomb but Janela countered out with a back body drop. Janela then turned to Aria Blake and asked for a kiss. In what was the least surprising turn in wrestling history Blake smashed a bottle over the head of Janela and MJF got the three count. After the match MJF and Blake kissed and Schiavone said he never saw that coming. Then you weren’t watching the show Tony because they telegraphed that pretty hard.

WINNER: MJF.

(Karcher’s Analysis: This isn’t really my favorite type of match. I’m not a fan of brawls. There was some okay stuff from these two once they got into the ring and if the turn handout been so telegraphed the last few weeks then the ending would have been a fun surprise. As it is I was expecting it, so it fell a bit flat.)

– Sami Callihan apparently hijacked one of the MLW cameras. Callihan found Jimmy Havoc backstage and asked him if he is in. Havoc didn’t know what he was talking about. He asked Callihan if this was about Mexico. Callihan said you know what I’m talking about and don’t talk about Mexico. Callihan spelled it out for him, he asked him to join his team for War Games. Havoc needed to be sold so Callihan told him he can cause pain and destroy 5 other people inside the cage. Havoc need more selling. Callihan said he would buy him some beer. That worked. Havoc drinks Stella apparently.

– Team Filthy (Tom Lawler, Simon gotch, and Fred Yehi) were outside. Yehi was coughing and looked like he smelled something bad. Lawler said it smells like Tennessee truckstop… before he could finish Colonel Parker and The Dirty Blondes walked up. Parker said something smells absolutely filthy. He said they were going to pay for what they did to his hat. He challenged team filthy to a match. Simon made a joke about Dirty Blondes not wearing pants. Lawless said he has bigger fish to fry. He told Parker to google him and then come down to his gym and then come get some. Schiavone clarified (much needed) that the two teams would be having a dojo fight

– Konnan was at the dressing room of Pentagon Dark and Rey Fenix (in street clothes with the masks still on. Looks funny to me) He asked them if they checked out their contracts. They said they did and then the pulled them out and ripped them up. The three walked away together.

[c]

– They showed footage from earlier in the day of Kevin Sullivan giving advice to Brian Pillman Jr. he warned Pillman about the dangers of hanging out with Hart and Smith Jr. Pillman told Sullivan that he respects those guys and they understand what he has been through. Sullivan and Pillman then told the cameras that they were having a private conversation.

(4) Teddy Hart vs. John Hennigan

The fans battle chanted “Let’s go Johnny” “Teddy Hart”. Both men exchanged some holds and chain wrestled to start the match. Hart jumped up to the top rope while in an arm bar and backflipped into an arm drag. Hennigan kicked Hart to the outside. Hart jumped up on the apron and when Hennigan tried to suplex him back inside but Hart reversed into a nice looking neck breaker using the top rope. Back inside Hennigan hit a super kick and a lariat on Hart. Hart went to the outside to try and regroup but Hennigan hit a corkscrew moonsault off the apron onto Hart in the crowd. Hennigan hit an elbow drop over the top rope for a two count. Hennigan placed Hart on the top of the turnbuckle. The two exchanged punches on the top and Hennigan hit a huge crucifix drop from the top rope followed by a standing backflip for a two count. Hennigan whipped Hart into the corner but when Hennigan followed up Hart went up and over and stood on Hennigan’s back. Hart then hit a code red for a two count. Hart head to the top turnbuckle. Hart hit a Canadian Destroyer off the top rope for a two count. Hart then hit a top rope springboard moonsualt onto Hennigan on the floor. The two brawled into the crowd for a bit. Hart hit Hennigan with a European uppercut on a chair. Back inside the ring, Hart hit a slingshot piledriver on Hennigan who was between the middle ropes. Hart went for the springboard backflip but Hennigan got his knees up to counter. The two men exchanged punched from their knees. Hennigan hit a running knee to the head and placed Hart on the top turnbuckle. Whining then hit a Spanish fly from the top rope for a two count. Hennigan went for Starship Pain but Hart countered with a roll up for a two count. Whining hit a DDT then hit Starship Pain for a very believable near fall. That kickoff got a big pop from the crowd and a fight forever chant broke out. Hennigan went up to the top turnbuckle and counted down from 5 then said impact, and went for a front flip splash, Hart moved out of the way and then grabbed Hennigan and hit a bear hug DDT. Hart hit a double knee lung blower then two lionsaults for a two count. Hart went for perhaps another Canadian Destroyer but Hennigan grabbed Hart’s leg and sat down for a pinning predicament and got the three.

WINNER: John Hennigan

(Karcher’s Analysis: Great match. I really enjoyed this a lot. I thought there were some really good believable near falls and some awesome athleticism on display. I thought we saw some attitude from John Hennigan that we don’t usually see from him with the split crowd. I liked that fire and makes me think he will do so good if MLW or Impact ever turn him heel. I know he works heel in Lucha Underground apparently but I haven’t seen much of that. I like what Teddy Hart can do in the ring. He has an awesome array of moves and the power to make them look good too. His promos are strange and I don’t fully understand his whole angry pissed off for no reason/paranoid character but as long as he can keep up in the ring and put on matches like this I’d like to see more of him in MLW. As far as I know he doesn’t wrestle anywhere else so it might be a good idea to utilize him often and get some viewers who want to see him and can’t get him anywhere else. This means Hennigan vs. Low Ki next week which has potential to be very good as well. More on that in Final Thoughts. )

FINAL THOUGHTS: Another solid show by MLW. These las few weeks have been pretty great and I think MLW really has some momentum ever since Battle Riot garnered them some good press. They have been putting on solid main event matches for the last month or so and that’s building up some solid credibility with their viewers. You know that every week you are going to get a solid hour of wrestling with a least one match worth watching and maybe two or three others that serviceable. The main events need to be on the money and they have been. Let’s hope Hennigan and Low Ki can keep that streak alive next week. I also like the idea of bringing back War Games. that is a very fun opportunity for MLW to give the fans something almost no other promotion can provide. I like the idea of Strickland and Callihan having to build their teams. I wish MLW would not have spoiled the remaining members of Strickland’s team online. MLW is really bad at avoiding spoilers. They constantly post things online that give away matches and even title changes. That isn’t good when you never have live shows. If you give away some tapped material to build up the live events that one thing, but when your always airing tapped material and you’re constantly spoiling your own results I think you’ll end up loosing more then you gain. That’s all for this week. Be sure to check back here next week for Kris Karcher’s (That’s me) in depth TV recap of MLW Fusion right here on PWTORCH.com.

NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S REPORT: 8/3 MLW FUSION TV REPORT: Sami Callihan vs. Shane Strickland, Brody King vs. Jimmy Havoc, Jack Hager vs. Simon Gotch